Charter Amendments on the Ballot in November

As an author of some of the November 2007 voters' pamphlet, I received an advance copy of pamphlet in the mail on Saturday. There is something distinctly odd in the pamphlet.

The Pierce County Council put eight proposed Charter Amendments on the November ballot. Four of the proposed amendments (#1, 2, 3 and 8) have neither a "for" nor an "against" statement in the pamphlet. In addition, proposed charter amendment #4 has no "for" statement, only an "against" statement. The idea that the County Council would put on the ballot proposals which no one was willing to write in favor of passage strikes me as good cause for voting No on these amendments.

Proposed amendments 6 and 7 had "for" arguments written for them, but no "against" arguments. While this does not always mean these are good proposals, I favor both of them and recommend a Yes on these two proposals.

Proposed amendment 5 was the only one with both a "for" statement and an "against" statement. This amendment is not a bad one, but proposal 6 is superior. The County Council should have made this choice themselves. I recommend a No vote on amendment 5.

In summary,

Yes on 6 and 7.

No on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8.